My first job in football was making the tea but now I've made history as first woman to manage a pro English men's team

HANNAH DINGLEY says her first taste of working in professional football was making the tea.

It may have only been as a caretaker-boss in a 1-1 friendly draw at non-league West Country neighbours Melksham Town — but it broke through a football glass ceiling and was a victory for equality in our national game.

Dingley has already been a trailblazer for women in football — having previously been a first-team coach at Hinckley, assistant-manager of Gresley and head of coaching at Burton.

And four years ago Forest Green owner Dale Vince made her the first woman to run a professional club’s academy.

Dingley is well tuned to working with men and always quickly cuts through lazy gender stereotypes and commands full respect.

She told SunSport: “I’ve seen it all. Fights on the pitch, fights off the pitch, handbags all over the place, lots of shouting and swearing at one another, someone having a sulk and storming off. 

“But I must say everyone has been accepting and welcoming of me in the game. 

“I’ve learned that at first there is that feeling of, ‘Oh, she is a woman’ because of unconscious biases.

“But once I speak, the men all realise I know what I’m talking about. That’s what it’s all about. If you know your stuff, you’ll succeed – whether you’re a man or woman.”

What are the odds?

Bookmakers Paddy Power have priced Dingley at 1/2 to get the job full time after being appointed on an interim basis.

Hannah Dingley Specials

1/2         To be announced as permanent manager of Forest Green Rovers 

33/1      To manage a Premier League team by 2030 

100/1    To win a trophy as Forest Green Rovers manager 

Get more odds with Paddy Power here

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Dingley grew up in the South Wales village of Llansteffan and started playing football with her older brother and other boys from the age of five — and played in school teams.

But she had to give up playing at age 11 because girls were prohibited from being in boys’ teams and there were no girls' sides in her local area under the age of 16.

She said: “Girls played hockey and netball and boys football and rugby. That’s the way it was — but I still loved the game and went to watch the boys, although I wasn’t allowed to join in.”

And incredibly the only way she was able to get back into football was on work experience at Swansea City … making brews for the backroom staff!

But it was there where she decided to pursue a career in football.

She said: “I was just 14 and caught the bug. Swansea were still playing at The Vetch. I spent Monday to Friday working as an office junior — sticking envelopes and making the tea.

“But I got to watch a first-team session. John Hollins was the manager. I’d see The Vetch empty on a Wednesday but then would see it bouncing on a Saturday and it just gave me a buzz. I wanted to work in football.”

Although Dingley resumed playing aged 16 for Carmarthen Town, she went on to do a BTEC in Football Studies – and was the only girl on her college course in Llanelli. 

You want people to see others as people - rather than a boy or girl, black or white, gay or straight.

Hannah Dingley

She then got a degree in PE and sports sciences at Loughborough University, obtained a number of coaching badges and coached both men’s, women’s and boys’ and girls’ teams. 

And she steadily worked her way up from coaching at Loughborough FC to head of coaching at Burton before pitching up at Forest Green.

Dingley’s elevation to managing the men’s team should come as no surprise as chairman Dale Vince has always expressed his desire to one day appoint a female head coach.

But the Rovers caretaker-boss hopes that she is doing her own little bit in breaking down gender barriers in football.

She said: “You want people to see others as people — rather than a boy or girl, black or white, gay or straight.

"We need football club owners to think, ‘What can this person bring to my organisation?’ There shouldn’t be any barriers saying, just because I’m a woman, I can’t go into men’s football.

“I’ve always been single minded and never let anyone stop me pursuing what I wanted to do. "

The ground-breaking match saw on-loan Hull kid Callum Jones equalise with seven minutes left to secure Forest Green a draw with a 30-yard blast.

And although Dingley is rightly proud to be in charge of a League Two club as they prepare for the new season, she said: "This is a great moment for women in football but it shouldn’t be. I’m the first but don’t want to be the only. 

"It’s disappointing I’m still the first and only female manager of an academy. If we want change to happen, we need more females in positions like this.

"It was great tonight to see young girls here wanting autographs. We want to encourage and inspire more girls into the sport and if this inspires them then I’m happy."

Asked if she wants the job full-time, she said: "I haven't even taken a training session yet so just want to focus on getting the players prepared for the new season before thinking about anything else."

And her boss Vince has hit back at the sceptics who claim the caretaker appointment is just a gimmick.

Asked by SunSport what he would say to such people, he said: “I’d say f*** off. It’s a silly thing to say. It’s offensive to Hannah, the club and women in football because she’s easily the most qualified person here to be the interim head coach.

"She got it on merit the same as she got the academy job on merit four years ago so I’ve no time for people who say that. It’s a cheap shot."

But Vince admitted that if Dingley is interested in the role full-time, she will go through the same recruitment and interview process as all other candidates and will only succeed if she is the best.

He said: "I haven’t asked if she will apply for it. I’ve only just spoken to her for the first time since we made the announcement.

"I don’t know if she’ll apply for it or not. If she does she’ll be in the process with everybody else. We’ll have hundreds of applicants, we’ll do a thorough job and we’ll appoint on merit.

“It doesn’t matter what your gender is, your sexuality, your gender, your race, it doesn’t matter."

But one thing is for sure, Dingley will be given a fair crack at Forest Green — a club she has loved working for since joining four years ago.

And she told me: "Forest Green’s ground is on a road called ‘Another Way’. When I first came here, my Sat Nav said, ‘Turn on to Another Way’ — I found that exciting and here I am today.”

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